Lebanese threaten government with civil disobedience in reaction to poor services

Details

by thearabweekly.com - Sami Kadi --BEIRUT - There is no proper public transport, no housing policy, no electricity and no decent roads in Lebanon, reasons enough for the Lebanese to stop paying taxes, argue activists of the “We Will Not Pay” campaign begun in reaction to the country’s deteriorating economic situation. The campaign, an implicit invitation to civil disobedience, basically calls on the Lebanese to stop paying electricity bills, income taxes and other government fees, in addition to high-interest bank loans that people contracted to finance services that the state has failed to provide for decades, said Roy Dib, a campaign activist. “It is a show of solidarity with the people who are rebelling against the political authorities because they lost their jobs, their savings are frozen and they can no longer afford to pay their dues,” Dib said. “The campaign calls on all Lebanese (without exception), including those who can pay loans, to boycott paying until certain demands are met.” “We pay double power bills (including one for private generators), take house loans because the government has no housing policy, car loans because there is no proper public transportation system and education loans to enroll in private universities because the level of public education has dropped drastically. These financial burdens are imposed on the Lebanese due to the government’s poor services,” Dib said.

Banks have been providing private loans with interest rates as high as 20%. The campaign aims to have banks offer a 6-month grace period for repayment of loans after which they would reschedule payments in addition to eliminating or reducing interest on loans. Dib said boycotting payments of loans “is a pressure tool to reschedule the loans and to assist those who are unable to pay and there are many of them.” “Banks have made a lot of money from high-interest rates over decades. It is time they pay back,” he said, adding that activists have prepared draft bills that some MPs are willing to propose in parliament to force banks to change their policies to protect people unable to pay back loans. The campaign established a hotline to volunteer lawyers providing legal consultations. “Every Friday a person can take an appointment to meet the lawyers and get advice on legal issues with the banks,” Dib said.

Read more ...

IBM is looking for its Microsoft Satya Nadella moment

Details

Brian Sozzi -- by finance.yahoo.com --The million-dollar question for IBM market observers? Did Big Blue — in promoting 30-year insider Arvind Krishna on Thursday night to replace long-time CEO Ginni Rometty in early April — just have its Microsoft Satya Nadella moment? “I wouldn’t be surprised if [IBM] is looking at Microsoft and hoping the same thing happens here,” said Sevens Report Research founder Tom Essaye on Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade. Mostly everyone by now knows the Nadella folk story at Microsoft.

Microsoft promoted Nadella to CEO in 2014, taking over for the always charismatic Steve Ballmer. Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992 and rose the ranks on the technical side of the business. Before assuming the CEO role, Nadella was instrumental in pivoting Microsoft to the cloud. In Nadella, Microsoft got a CEO with real technical chops that could pivot the company to the future of computing and work. That was different from the salesman like skills of Ballmer, which garnered mixed results in terms of stock and financial performance. Since Nadella took over, Microsoft’s stock has surged more than 300%. The company’s market cap is a staggering $1.3 billion. Nadella has used his technical skills to accelerate Microsoft’s shift to cloud and enter into new businesses such as LinkedIn (which he led Microsoft in acquiring). Above all else, most experts would agree Nadella has completely transformed Microsoft’s culture to one focused on speed and execution. To Essaye’s point, IBM is probably hoping to catch Nadella-like magic in the battle with Krishna. Indeed the resumés are very similar.

Read more ...

New Lebanese Agriculture Minister Vows To Restore Ties With Syria, Boost Export

Details

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point New) :The newly-appointed Lebanese agriculture minister said on Friday that his first priority is to restore good ties with Syria in a bid to facilitate the export of Lebanese products to other Arab countries. "After the government gets a vote of confidence, I will be visiting Syria to build good ties with the neighboring country and facilitate the export of our produce to the rest of the Arab countries while asking the Syrian government to reduce fees for exporting through its territories," Abbas Mortada was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper. He also vowed to take steps that aim at helping Lebanese farmers improve and export their produce while opening new markets to increase job opportunities. In the past few years, the Lebanese agriculture sector has been suffering from the war in neighboring Syria that disrupted the land export route through the country for Lebanese farmers who have to pay much higher fees to export their produce by sea. The Lebanese sector has also suffered from neglect by the government which failed to offer the needed support for farmers.

Lebanon looks to combat capital flight

Details

thearabweekly.com -- LONDON - Lebanon has moved to combat “capital flight” after it emerged that $1 billion has already been transferred out of the country despite restrictions on withdrawals. According to local reports, Lebanon’s central bank informed local lenders to settle debt securities and Certificates of Deposit in client accounts, part of emergency measures to put a lid on capital flight from the protest hit country which is facing increasing liquidity problems. In an internal circular issued on January 30 and effective for six months, banks in Lebanon are ordered to settle the value and interest of debts, Bloomberg reported. The move comes as part of a broader move to ensure sufficient financial liquidity in Lebanon. Banking restrictions already ban most transfers abroad and limit dollar and local-currency withdrawals.

Despite such measures, Lebanon Central Bank governor Riad Salameh revealed that significant capital had been transferred out of the country over the past few months. "Of the $1.6 billion that was withdrawn (from the Lebanese banking sector) between October 17 and the end of the year... one billion dollars were transferred abroad by Lebanese," Salameh said on January 30 in an interview with France 24. The remaining $600,000 that was withdrawn from Lebanese banks during this period were capital deposits held by foreign banks, Salameh added. Salameh announced an investigation into how so much money was transferred, but acknowledged that results would “take some time” He also acknowledged there had been reports that “politicians, senior civil servants and bank owners” were involved in capital flight but called on observers to wait for the investigation’s report. Questions about who was transferring money abroad and how are being raised after a report by the Carnegie think tank in November revealed that nearly $800 million left Lebanon between October 15 and November 7. During this period, the vast majority of Lebanese could not access their funds because banks were closed due to anti-corruption protests.

US Middle East plan could lead to 'more bloodshed', bishops warn

Details

by catholicherald.co.uk -- The proposed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan announced this week is “no solution,” Catholic bishops of the Holy Land said on Wednesday. “This plan will bring no solution but rather will create more tensions and probably more violence and bloodshed,” read a statement on Wednesday from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, which represents Christians from Latin, Melkite, Maronite, Syrian, Armenian, and Chaldean churches in communion with Rome. The ordinaries said that the plan was one-sided in favor of Israel’s traditional demands for a two-state solution and was a “unilateral initiative” that did not involve the agreement of the Palestinians, nor respected their “equal rights and dignity.” “It is to be considered a unilateral initiative, since it endorses almost all the demands of one side, the Israeli one, and its political agenda,” the statement read. “On the other hand, this plan does not really take into considerations the just demands of the Palestinian people for their homeland, their rights and dignified life.”

The proposed “Peace-to-Prosperity” plan, announced on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outlined a path to statehood for Palestine as part of a “two-state solution.” Tuesday’s proposal is open to acceptance by Palestinian leaders for a four-year term. It would set up borders for a new Palestinian state with its capital of “al-Quds,” the Arabic name for Jerusalem, encompassing parts of East Jerusalem. However, the rest of the city—including the Old City—would remain part of Israel. Israel would also keep around a third of the West Bank, including existing settlements and the Jordan Valley. There would be a four-year halt to an expansion of Israeli settlements into the proposed Palestinian territory, but there is no freeze on settlements within Israel’s proposed future boundary in the West Bank. Appearing with President Trump on Tuesday at the White House, Netanyahu said that Israel would not wait to “apply its laws” to areas that would fall under its control in the proposed boundaries, including the Jordan Valley and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

Read more ...

Lebanon’s Government Tries to Curb USD Exchange Rate by Pursuing Money Changers

Details

by aawsat.com -- The Lebanese state is seeking to control the rise in the value of the US dollar against the local currency by clamping down on money changers who have failed to adhere to the limits set by the central bank and the Lebanese Money Changers Association. Last week, the Association said it had agreed with the central bank on “an exchange rate for the US dollar capped at 2,000 Lebanese pounds,” which was not respected by all. The Lebanese pound is officially maintained at a rate of 1,517 to the dollar, but the country’s worsening economic situation has sent the currency into a sharp decline in foreign exchange offices.

But as the central bank has refrained from pumping the dollar into the Lebanese market, and the banks imposed severe measures on the depositors, the Lebanese people resorted to the black market as an alternative solution, selling the dollar to the money changers at a value of LBP2,150, or buying it at LBP2,300. In a recent move, Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim pressed charges against six money changers for violating the law and working without permits from the central bank. Those were referred to the competent judicial authorities for trial. A banking source told Asharq Al-Awsat that banks “don’t know the source of the dollars that are available at the money exchange offices.” “There is no doubt that an important part of these dollars is purchased by exchange offices from the citizens who are buying the local currency, but not all exchanged money is from such transactions,” according to the source.